


from the start

by liarlagoon



Series: nonverbal connor [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Autistic Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Friendship, Gavin has depression and a speech impediment, Gen, Nonverbal Connor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23842420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liarlagoon/pseuds/liarlagoon
Summary: Det. Gavin Reed is on his lunch break when he sees a familiar face being harassed by anti-android protesters.
Relationships: Connor & Gavin Reed
Series: nonverbal connor [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718014
Comments: 8
Kudos: 199





	from the start

**Author's Note:**

> the long and short of this is "connor gets a friend"

It's been a slow day, and Gavin is taking his time at lunch, strolling down the sidewalk along a small strip of stores farther away from the station than he usually goes. The strip is filled exclusively with independent sellers as part of a small business initiative Detroit had implemented in the late 2020s, blocking off certain areas from chain retailers, and there's a little mom-and-pop Chinese food place that Gavin is especially fond of at the end of the row. 

He's about halfway from the restaurant to his car when he hears something shatter, and he turns his attention towards the noise. There is a clay pot on the ground behind a group of people standing in a clump, blocking his view of whoever they're talking to. Gavin frowns when a mean-sounding laugh drifts out of the crowd, making his way over. 

To say he's surprised to see Connor, former android detective extraordinaire, clutching a potted hydrangea to his chest and glaring at the crowd is an understatement. Now that he knows who it is, he thinks it's probably safe to leave. Connor can handle himself.

He doesn't make it ten steps before the jeering starts. 

"What's your model, pretty boy?" 

"Bet it's a BL!" 

"Wouldn't mind having something like you to come home to."

Connor makes a short, indignant noise in his throat, but doesn't otherwise respond. Gavin frowns, taking a few steps closer. 

"You broken or something?"

"Maybe it's not deviant! Still knows better than to talk back to its  _ betters _ ." 

Connor bares his teeth and takes a couple of steps back, obviously angling for the front door, probably planning to slam it in these peoples' faces. Gavin knows already that he's not going to make it, not with these people emboldened by his silence and retreat, and it looks like Connor does too, given the flicker of red in his LED. Why isn't he defending himself?

Gavin's seen enough, and he starts forward to intervene before it gets physical, but it's too late. A woman at the front of the group steps forward and grabs Connor by the straps of his apron. She shoves him hard, and he stumbles backwards into a laughing man, dropping his hydrangea. The man goes to wrap his arms around Connor, but Connor catches his wrist and twists it, elbowing the man in the ribs as he slides away, LED solid red now. 

"Hey, knock it off!" Gavin barks, but no one even acknowledges his voice. He starts shoving his way through the mob. 

The woman who had shoved Connor grabs one of his arms and yanks him off balance, and another man steps forward and slams a fist into his cheek. Connor goes down, and when he looks up again, he looks half furious and half like he wants to cry, and there's a tiny cut leaking blue blood where his face had hit the pavement.

Gavin finally manages to shoulder through the row of people closest to Connor and positions himself defensively in front of him. "I said knock it off! Leave him alone!" 

"Aww, come on, man," the man who Connor had elbowed said, "we're just messing with it. Not our fault it copped an attitude." 

Gavin pulled his badge from his pocket and held it up where everyone could see it. "If I ever catch any of you harassing  _ him _ again, you can make your arguments to a judge." He turned his gaze on the three that had laid hands on Connor. The man who had punched him still looks cocky, but the other two have blanched and started inching away. "Get out of here before I haul you in for assault."

That finally seems to get through to the man, and the three of them scatter like roaches exposed to sunlight. Gavin pockets his badge and turns to kneel in front of Connor. "You okay?" 

Connor diverts his glare from the retreating group to give Gavin a look that very clearly says,  _ Are you fucking serious _ ? 

"Okay, obviously not, but I meant like… do you need help? With, like, patching your face up, or filing a report if you want to?"

Connor ducks his head, LED blinking yellow, and picks at his fingers for a few seconds before he nods. He rejects Gavin's offered hand and gets to his feet on his own, then leads Gavin inside the flower shop and into a back room. A basic android first aid kit, popularized in the weeks immediately following the revolution, is placed on the counter. Connor doesn't look at him while they wait for the plastic chassis patch to heat up enough for Gavin to mold it to the shape of Connor's face. 

"Okay, I gotta ask," Gavin blurts after a few minutes of sitting in silence, "did I do something to you?" 

Connor gives Gavin a quizzical look and shakes his head. 

"Is there, uh, a reason you refuse to talk to me, then?" 

Connor's face does something funny that Gavin can't quite make sense of, and then his work cell goes off in his pocket. 

"Shit, sorry, hang on," he grumbles digging it out of his pocket. He flicks the screen on and sees a text from what looks sort of like an android serial number. It says,  _ [I cannot speak, Detective _ . _ ] _ Gavin looks up at Connor, then down at the message, then back up at Connor. "You can't talk? At all?" 

Connor shakes his head. 

"Since when? Did someone damage your voice box?" 

Connor gives him a bemused look and texts,  _ [No, Det. Reed. I have always been unable to speak.] _ Another ping immediately follows.  _ [You commented on this fact when I first started at the DPD, before the revolution.] _

"I didn't know you  _ couldn't _ , I thought you were just ignoring me." 

Connor stares at him, face a little pinched, like he's trying to solve a particularly difficult puzzle. Gavin huffs, heat crawling up his neck, and grabs the chassis patch. "Whatever, shut up." Connor's lips twitch. " _ Shut up _ . Take your skin projection off so I can get this on." 

Connor does as he's told and sits still while Gavin gently, carefully molds the patch to the contours of his face. When he sits back, another text pings on his phone. 

_ [Thank you.] _

"S'no big deal. And you don't have to text, you know. I can read sign." 

Connor replaces his skin projection and holds up his hands.  _ Really? _

"Really really."

_ Why?  _

"You mean why did I learn?" A nod from Connor. "I, uh, had a pretty bad speech impediment as a kid. When I got to foreign language classes in high school, I figured learning to talk with my hands was better than stumbling through two verbal languages." 

Connor tilts his head and taps a finger against the side of his own face.  _ Is that why you hold so much tension around your mouth? _

Gavin huffs out a little laugh. "Yeah. Everyone says it makes me look kind of mean. I don't mind it. Sorta helpful to look mean in this job, sometimes." 

There's a little puff of air from Connor, followed by a crackling noise. Gavin worries for a split second before he realizes that Connor is laughing, eyes crinkled at the corners and shoulders shaking the tiniest bit. 

They become something like friends after that. Gavin makes a habit of stopping by after work if he gets off while the shop is still open. They bicker over "leaf water" and "bean water," and Connor makes him try a new tea every time he visits. They eventually find a couple he likes, and Connor gives him a smug smile and declares that he's won the argument, and Gavin lets him have it, even though there was never any argument to win. Simon is at the shop, occasionally, and Gavin meets him a couple of weeks into his visits. He and Connor are disgustingly cute, and Gavin has fun teasing Connor about it after Simon leaves. 

He has to chase off some prejudiced humans a few times, and there are times when they come while he isn't there. Those days, Connor is stiff and angry or sad and slow, depending on what they've said to him. Gavin can help on the angry days, when Connor is vibrating with tension. They clear space in the back room and spar until one of them (read: Gavin) is pinned, and then Gavin wraps his arms around Connor and flips them so he's pressing him into the floor. Connor likes the pressure; it makes the tension in his body slowly seep out of him, until he lays flat on the floor, eyes closed and breathing slow. On the sad days, nothing he does helps. He tries, at first, but all it accomplishes is making Connor more upset, until he curls into a ball in a corner and throws gardening supplies at Gavin every time he gets too close. He learns to be quiet and calm, to just wrap a blanket around his shoulders and call Simon, and the other android will come and press their hands together, glowing blue, the only contact Connor will allow in that state. 

Gavin has bad days, too. Sometimes it's a case, and sometimes it's Gavin's own mind, and Connor learns to tell the difference. On the days when it's a case, Gavin usually wants to talk. He'll come into the shop mopey and silent, but he's twitchy, and when Connor gives him the fancy, specialty coffee he keeps on hand for these occasions, Gavin will take a few sips and then get up and pace until Connor prompts him, at which point he'll finally start talking, and he won't stop until he's explained everything, and usually he's calmed down by then. On the days when it's his mind, he'll still come in mopey and silent, but when Connor gives him his coffee, he just turns it in his hands without drinking, staring with unfocused eyes at the ripples the liquid makes and barely acknowledging Connor when he tries to talk to him. On those days, Connor wraps a blanket around them both and holds him close. He tucks Gavin's head under his chin and runs his fingers through his hair, and Gavin doesn't feel okay, but he feels better. 

It's good.  _ They're  _ good. Connor doesn't let many people close, but he's glad he let Gavin in, and Gavin doesn't call many people his friends, but he's glad to give the title to Connor. 


End file.
